US bid to revive Syria peace plan with fresh talks

October 15, 2016 6:26 pm

By AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE, Lausanne, Switzerland, Oct 15 – Pessimistic envoys from the United States, Russia and Syria’s neighbours met Saturday in Switzerland as Secretary of State John Kerry tried to revive hopes of a ceasefire for the war-torn country.

The talks marked Kerry’s first encounter with his Russian opposite number Sergei Lavrov since a US and Russian-sponsored truce collapsed last month amid a ferocious Syrian offensive.

But diplomats from all sides warned against hopes for a rapid breakthrough in Lausanne, and Moscow showed no sign of softening its strong support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Even as the diplomats gathered in a lakefront hotel, Moscow’s flagship aircraft carrier set sail for the Mediterranean to support the Russian forces shoring up Assad’s rule.

Fierce fighting was continuing in the multi-front conflict, with Turkish-backed opposition fighters closing in on Dabiq, a symbolic stronghold of the Islamic State group.

And in Aleppo, Russian-backed government forces intensified their bombardment of the rebel-held east of the city, further damaging any prospect of a renewed ceasefire.

Kerry and Lavrov, once joint sponsors of international peace effort, met ahead of the broader talks, but US officials insisted that their “bilateral track” remains dead.

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